“Investing in yourself is the best investment you can make. It will not only improve your life, it will improve the lives of those around you.”  Robin S. Sharma

In February, I had the pleasure of attending the DRI Women in the Law Annual Seminar in lovely Scottsdale, Arizona. I felt a tad guilty at the thought of being able to jet off to this resort setting in the middle of winter, but I was assured by the senior partner at our firm that this was a worthwhile venture, and who was I to argue?

Walking in, I knew none of the 250+ female defense attorney attendees. I volunteered at the registration table, knowing it would make it easier to connect. By the end of the first half day, I had met and interacted one on one with new business contacts, learned some do’s and don’ts about rainmaking and pitching to a client, and had a lot of fun in the process.

Over the course of the next couple of days, I was inspired by the energy of this amazing collection of powerful women, all of whom want better for their clients, their practices, themselves and their families. Discussions and presentations ran the gamut from controlling damages to workplace bias to succession planning to finding your bliss! Most of the sessions were chock full of practical applications. Even the ones that didn’t specifically apply to my area of law contained useful nuggets, beneficial to any type of practice.

By the time the conference was over, many of those contacts had become new friends, and I walked away knowing that I was a better version of myself as a lawyer, a business associate, and a person than when I walked in. All that and sunshine to boot. Not a bad investment.